Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described herein are not prior art to the claims in the present application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Waveguide-based optical devices in silicon (Si) photonics may be highly birefringent due to a high confinement of light in the waveguide. An example of a waveguide-based optical device that may be highly birefringent may include a wavelength division de-multiplexer (WDM demux) which may be used at a receiver of an integrated Si photonic integrated circuit (PIC). A transfer function of the WDM demux may be different for transverse-electrical (TE) and transverse-magnetic (TM) polarizations, which may lead to a relatively large (e.g., 30-40 nm) wavelength shift between the two transfer functions for the TE and TM polarizations. This difference in wavelength associated with the TE and TM polarizations may result in channel cross-talk when an optical signal with an unknown or mixed polarization is demultiplexed by a WDM demux with a polarization-dependent filter function.
The subject matter claimed herein is not limited to implementations that solve any disadvantages or that operate only in environments such as those described above. Rather, this background is only provided to illustrate one example technology area where some implementations described herein may be practiced.